Spetsnaz - Etymology

Etymology

The Russian acronyms "SPETSNAZ" (spetsialnogo naznacheniya) and "OSNAZ" (osobovo naznacheniya), both short for "special purpose", are general terms used for a variety of special forces or regular forces assigned to special tasks. They are syllabic abbreviations typical for the Russian language of the early Soviet era, although many Cheka and Internal Troops units such as OMSDON used a osobovo naznacheniya designation in their full names.

Modern terminology mostly uses "spetsnaz" abbreviation to refer to special purpose forces or just special forces, however, the widespread use of this word is actually a relatively recent, post-perestroika development in the Russian language. The existence of these special forces units was not known to the general public during the Soviet era. In a sense, this became yet another state secret that was disclosed due the glasnost ("openness") policy of the Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika era. The stories about the Spetsnaz and their allegedly incredible prowess, from the more serious to the highly questionable, have captivated imaginations of the more patriotic Russians, particularly being set against the background of a decay in the Russian military during the Perestroika and the post-Soviet era. A number of books were written about the Spetsnaz GRU, the best known of these being Aquarium by Viktor Suvorov, a GRU agent who defected to the West.

At the turn of the 21st century, the word "spetsnaz" became used to refer to anything the speaker deemed somehow special or exclusive. Nowadays, in Russia "spetsnaz" have become a colloquial term gradually losing its umbrella function; special operations became much more commonplace, be it a police raid or military operation. Heavy news coverage of such events allowed the public to address these units by name - OMON, SOBR, Alpha, Vympel, Vityaz and so forth. The Interior Ministry special units like OMON are especially close to everyday life now, as they are acting as riot police and SWAT type forces, so they are even less likely to be called spetsnaz. Foreign special forces are also commonly referred to as "spetsnaz" in Russia (for example, the United States special operations forces are referred to as "American spetsnaz").